Samuel's Birth and Dedication

¹⁹ The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshiping the Lord, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayer. ²⁰ So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,^[a] and explained, “I asked the Lord for him.”

²¹ The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he had promised. ²² But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the Lord, where he will stay all his life.”

²³ Elkanah answered, “All right, do whatever you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him. And may the Lord make your^[b] promise come true.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.

²⁴ After she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh, taking along a three-year-old bull,^[c] a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵ After they had killed the bull, they took the child to Eli. ²⁶ Hannah said to him, “Excuse me, sir. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I asked him for this child, and he gave me what I asked for. ²⁸ So I am dedicating him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he will belong to the Lord.”

Then they^[d] worshiped the Lord there.